7th Servant
by fallenpoet
Summary: He felt he could hardly contain the power as he strode over the now scorched and battered platform. He looked at Caeon, once his friend, now a mass of evil, battered and bleeding, pulling himself to his knees. The necromancer lunged to his feet, screaming
1. Chapter 1

Snow rained down peacefully on the icy plains of Lakonia. It delicately and gently made its way down until it reached the carnage below. The battle was in full swing, men and goblins being hacked apart. Screams filled the air, mixed with the gruesome sound of clagling weapons and flesh being torn. Isaiah whispered a solemn prayer to his god Zaen as the battle raged on. The hordes of hob- goblins were advancing and breaking apart the lines of men. The priests and paladins rallied the soldiers to fight as they cast divine spells upon their warriors. The Quixian squad consisting of fifteen heavily armoured paladins, dressed in beautiful white robes, broke through the goblin lines, tearing apart at the small creatures. Shrieks filled the air and the battlefield was strewn with lifeless bodies, scattered with gore. The Quixian squad advanced through the ranks slicing apart the advancing hordes. The goblins were now retreating to fire points amongst the rocks in the large frozen battlefield.

"Move forth! This hell spawn is no match for the children of Zaen, deity of men!" screamed Caeon as he cast a celestial paladin spell, sending a great white shockwave over the mass of goblins, vanquishing many instantly. The men advanced, fighting viciously against the hordes of evil. The men were obviously losing the battle despite their valiant efforts. Squads after squads of goblins kept appearing from the hills. Isaiah stepped out from behind the Quixian squad and ignored the arrows, spitting across the bloody landscape. Goblin after goblin lunged at him trying to slay the mighty paladin but Isaiah's lightning quick sword blows were too quick and many goblins were cut down as he strode through the ranks. He felt the power of his god running through his body. He clutched his holy symbol, a beautiful sword built of a gleaming white metal. He concentrated the thoughts of his god, his prayers and his energy and released it all… A great white aura radiated from Isaiah and every soldier on the battle field felt the beautiful energy flow through them. They fought on, now replenished. Caeon, a large man of many summers strode over to Isaiah hacking at the retreating goblins.

"We may win this my friend!" he laughed despite the bloodshed.

"For Zaen!" cried Isaiah.

"For Zaen," echoed Caeon.

The battle raged and it seemed like the humans would win. Then Isaiah felt it, a great evil presence was advancing through the air. All the preists suddenly became hesitant. . Even the non-magical common soldiers felt something. The priests began to scream.

"We must retreat while we still can!" screamed a priest. The goblins were retreating now into the safety of the hills. Then Isaiah noticed it; a large black shadow of a figure had formed across the snow covered plain. The shadows began to rise from the ground into wisps of dark energy. They flew and twirled until they had formed into a figure. A dark black knight stood around a hundred metres from the now alone, army of men. Priests began to run and the soldiers began to retreat but they all seemed to be cut down by sum unknown force. They fell to the ground and began to decay as if they were living a century in several seconds.

"Demon prince…" whispered Isaiah. Only a handful of the bravest paladins stood. Among them Caeon was Caeon and like the others, they all seemed strangely calm. .

"We - we- must fight it! Come! With Zaen under our aid, nothing can harm us! Those cowards died because they do not follow Zaen! Let us fight brave paladins!" screamed Isaiah. However, none of the paladins moved. They all stood, transfixed in terror. The dark being was advancing.

"Don't you see Isaiah? He is offering us life! Eternal life all we have to do is…" said Caeon as he turned to Isaiah. Isaiah stared in absolute terror at Caeon. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"No! How can we turn over to this evil! All the years Caeon!"

"I'm sorry Isaiah. You know of my vision of foresight. I foresaw this. I told the other paladins and we decided it was the only way. We knew you wouldn't ever be deterred. You are too loyal to Zaen," said Caeon, a faint smile creeping over his face. Isaiah stared in horror at the Paladins. These soldiers had spent years of their life for this one god, they had dedicated so much time and pain, now only to succumb to evil. The many battles they had fought in the name of Zaen, the many loyal battalions of paladins which had died in his name and all the pain and suffering these men had gone through. It all seemed to be crashing down around the one paladin. Isaiah stared in horror. They all began to change, their bodies morphing and twisting. Their once clean white armour changed to black studded fatigues. Their faces changed too, slowly deformed. Until all that was left was a group of dark warriors. The demon prince, edged closer, his shadow mass swirling in darkness.

"We have been friends all our lives Isaiah. You were always better than me, always excelled at whatever we did. It was a constant competition. You do not understand how much pain I lived in. Always, in your shadow," said the now deformed Caeon as he smiled at Isaiah maliciously, " I know that you would rather choose death than to become a chaos warrior but unfortunately we have a different solution." Isaiah stared in absolute terror as Caeon, his once best friend deformed into what only barely resembled a humanoid figure, his once proud holy blade, curved and twisted into a dark scimitar. The black being was only inches away. Its power was overwhelming. Despite his greatest efforts Isaiah couldn't move. His body stood frozen. Caeon edged closer, he laughed manically. The other warriors laughed too, an evil death chant. Caeon grabbed Isaiah and plunged the blade straight into his heart. Black blood began to spill from the paladins wound, his eyes turned a black, his body began to deform and rot. The once proud paladin felt his soul, darkening. He thought that maybe one day there would be revenge but after the evil consumed him there would be no turning back. He tried hard to resist but it was no use as shadow enveloped him. He felt himself sink into darkness…


	2. Chapter 2

The rains beat down mercilessly upon the ancient roof of Cosmot Inn, putting the layer of sealant to the test once more. The skies were a sea of darkness, illuminated into ghastly statues of dark clouds by the horrendous lightning that struck at intervals and was accompanied by deafening thunder. It was just another winter storm to the inhabitants of the northern region. The filthy, dwarven innkeeper stared out the window of the inn into the rain while wiping a glass clean.

There weren't many people occupying the inn at this time of the night. A few drunks lay about the bar asleep, a couple of grimy miners talked quietly to the inn keeper. These were all villagers residing from Cosmot. However, a small cluster of coarse, harsh men, bound in polluted, leather amour and mud caked boots were huddle around a small table playing cards.

"Mercenaries…" whispered the innkeeper to one of the miners."That lot be nothing' but trouble I tell ye.'

"Indeed," echoed one of the miners. The mercenaries were all shapes and sizes. They consisted of a young human and a slightly older one, a half orc and two dwarves. One of the mercenaries stood up from the table and strode purposefully over to the notice board. He was a young man of around twenty summers. He was a rather skinny to average build and has light brown hair that dangled over his clever brown eyes. He wore a light, studded, leather tunic covered in a layer of dehydrated dirt. His legs were caked in dry grime. His name was Arturo, a young mercenary who had recently joined this adventuring band. He glanced quickly across the noticeboard, scanning its contents. All of a sudden he smiled, ripped a large note from the corner and jogged back to the group.

"Gentleman, I think I've found our big break," he said smiling.

"Raise yer 15 and I'll throw in me boot," the voice was from Val, a crusty half-orc of average age. He had a huge build, wore heavy metal armour in even worse condition than his comrade, Arturo. He had far too many teeth missing and he had a large nose which stood out. His face was covered in scars from the many battles he had fought.

"You can't throw in your shoe! Fool! It's hardly worth anything!" shouted Julius, a slightly crazed dwarf who had experienced one too many battles. Next to his chair was propped a gleaming axe, the only object of any value he owned.

"Julius is right Val!" laughed Thor, an extremely old yet unusually fit dwarven warrior. A large white beard tumbled down his chest like a waterfall. His eyes shone like two stars in the night sky.

"Hey! Listen! I know it's been weeks since we've had a job but I think I've found one boys!" said Arturo. "Hey what do you think Zan?"

For the first time in the last few hours Zanatos, the band's leader, looked up.

"Listen fool! You either call me by my real name or you can leave!"

"Sorry Zanatos." Zanatos was the leader of the band of mercenaries. He was a very quite person, didn't talked much and nobody asked him any personal questions. However, he was an excellent fighter and had at least once saved each of the mercenary's lives so they all respected him. Zanatos wore broad, black, studded leather amour riddled with gleaming metallic plates in all the vitals. He had an average build and average height for a human. His thick platinum white hair fell down over his face and the back was tied in a short ponytail. The hair bore a strange contrast as the rest of him was a midnight black. His eyes were swirling pools of dark purple and his face was completely pale except for several scars that carved across his face. Dark black shadows somehow lurked underneath his eyes and at times it looked as if his eye sockets were bare.

"Well?" grunted Val. Arturo cleared his throat and scanned the note, made from beautiful, creamy paper and written in gleaming, emerald ink.

"It's from a mage. He's looking for five to ten brave adventurers to accompany him on some sort of quest into the Cosmot swamps," replied Arturo. Thor jumped up intently and strode over to where Arturo was standing to get a peek at the notice.

"Hmmm, I hear them swamps be festering with the undead, lads," he said while looking at the paper with uncertainty.

"You're not serious are you?" echoed Arturo, a slight unease in his tone.

"Aah! Undead? Hordes of chaos just itching to be sliced apart by my blade?" laughed Val, obviously excited. Zanatos chuckled.

"The swamps?" he chimed, "Ever wonder why there's a seven o'clock curfew at this town?" he said viciously. "Just look at the bolts on the door," he said eyeing the fortified inn door," And the bars on the windows. What about the wall surrounding the village? This place is plagued by something. It reeks of evil. I sensed it as soon as we arrived." Arturo eyed the door with uncertainty.

"Well the note here says that the mage will offer a payment of let's see… No this must be a mistake…" Arturo's eyes grew wide with anticipation. "One-thousand gold p-p-pieces…" Julius fell out of his chair. Val sprayed all the dwarven ale he was drinking all over the table. Thor looked to the sky as if in prayer and even Zanatos attempted a smile.

"Undead or no undead I don't care anymore! Cosmot swamps it is!" laughed Thor.


	3. Chapter 3

Julius knocked on the harsh, metal door several times. The mercanries had arrived at the mages keep, the following morning. It was a strong, fortified area with a high stone fence located on the top of a hill, overlooking the village. The gates on the walls were open. Within the walls was only a small, metallic hut that still must have cost the mage a small fortune as it was entirely built out of a strong metal. The mercenaries had tried making conversation with the villagers but they simply ignored the travelling band and if the mage was mentioned they would quickly disappear into a nearby building.

"No wonder no one likes this filthy mage! I've been knocking on this door for 10 minutes and he hasn't answered!" said Julius angrily as he looked at the strong metal portal.

"Julius, has it ever occurred to you that maybe he isn't home?" smirked Arturo. Thor and Val burst out laughing.

"Silence human! I shall vanquish you!"

"Vanquish… big word, Julius," muttered Arturo. A fight between the two was brewing. Julius' sheer stupidity and Arturo's sharp tongue. All of a sudden the door creaked open revealing the mage. He was a human and by the looks of it, very old. He wore a blue robe, well kept yet still a faded because of age. A little white hair protruded from what was otherwise a bald head and his face was a mass of wrinkles except for two large emerald green eyes.

"Greetings brave warriors! Are you here for the advertisement I placed in the inn?" he croaked.

"Er yeh… that's us… are you sure that the payment is one-one-thousand gold pieces?" stuttered Val, unbelievably excited.

"Yes that's correct. Please come inside my abode! By the way I am Myojin." laughed the mage. The party entered the hut; it was a featureless room with a single spiralling staircase leading downwards, underground. They began to walk down the steps, the warriors eyeing their surroundings with great interest.

"So, tell us the details," grunted Val.

"Patience! When we reach the bottom," replied Myojin. A moment later they had arrived into a large, misty, underground room. The room was designed like a mine shaft with wooden beams holding up what was simply a dug out room. Oil lamps were strung along the walls at intervals. They cast a shadowy orange tinge over the room. Wooden tables, piled with glasses and bottles with pipes protruding from them were cluttered all across the room with lots of different sheets of paper. Strange concoctions of amazing colours were being brewed in these containers.

"Alchemists lair… "muttered Thor.

"Welcome! Now let's get straight to business, shall we. There's a strange plant found in the depths of the swamps of Cosmot that I need for research. However, it does not grow in the open. It is located in a secret temple amongst the swamps. What I want you to do is go and retrieve me some of this plant."

"And we'll receive one-thousand gold?" echoed Thor.

"That's correct. You will receive a down payment of three hundred gold and when you return, one-thousand! However, I recently discovered a week ago that I am allergic to the mud in the Cosmot swamps so I shan't be going with you."

"More like he's allergic to the beasts in that swamp if you know what I mean," whispered Julius. Arturo snickered.

"Won't there be… evil in that swamp?" spoke Zanatos for the first time.

"Yes… these are grim times my friends, that's why the payment is so good." said the Myojin and sinister smile crawling over his lips as he eyed Zanatos.

"Alright, sounds fair we can go straight away," chimed Val.

"That would be impossible me friend. You see, the plant feeds at night so it can only remain fresh at night. If it were to be picked at daylight the plant would rot within seconds."

"Er so?" asked Arturo.


	4. Chapter 4

A thick grey mist clung in the air as the five hardened mercenaries advanced towards the swamp. The moon was blanketed my thick, murky clouds from Cosmot. However, some stares shone bright, casting black shadows ubiquitously. Zanatos glared across the landscape.

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" moaned Arturo, looking around him nervously.

"You probably wouldn't have come lad," replied Val as he walked along the beaten path..

"Yeah but as a member of this band, I think I deserve the right to know what the group is doing!"

"You humans, always complaining"

"Silence!" The conversation was broken by none other than Zanatos. "Look at you clowns! We're going to be facing none other than death itself in this swamp so stay focused! You have to be soldiers!"

"Oh my soldier days… don't remind me Zan…" cursed Julius under his breath.

"Brace yourselves lads we're about to enter the swamp!" whispered Thor. A few metres later they passed a sign. "NO ENTRY BEYOND THIS POINT. THE SWAMP IS OFF LIMITS. IF THE TRESSPASSERS COME OUT ALIVE, THEY WILL BE PROSECUTED".

"Chilling idea…" muttered Julius to himself and he gripped his dwarven, rune encrusted axe tightly. The party entered the swamps. As soon as they entered tall, bony, black figures surrounded them on all sides.

"Chilling trees…" muttered Julius as he surveyed his surroundings. Arturo took out the map of the swamp that the mage had given him, out of his pocket and surveyed the brown filthy paper.

"According to this, we should walk straight ahead for around 20 minutes until we see the largest tree in the swamp and then we should go North West until we reach a clearing. From there we can unlock a hidden door to the temple, inside grows this elusive plant." Moments later the party heard a splash echo through the swamp.

"Oooh its cold!" moaned Thor.

"Oh… I forgot to mention, we will be wading through the swamp…" Everyone moaned at Arturo. The warriors silently drudged through the thick black slime. Cries of strange animals could be heard from the distance. The swamp had become thick with trees on all sides. It was almost impossible to move anywhere but north.

"I can't believe this… what happened to just slaying the hordes of invading orcs back in Miridia…" cursed Julius.

"Hey! I heard that! How about I avenge my brothers and sisters on you halfling!" cursed Val.

"Halfling? Halfling? No one calls a dwarf a halfling and lives to tell the tale. Its time to die hellspawn!" Julius lunged at Val hoping to topple him over in the mud but Val was too quick. With lightning fast reflexes Val dodge and the Dwarf fell face down in the knee deep mud. Val then jammed his foot on the dwarf's head and pushed. Julius desperately fought for air trying to stay alive and then lashed out with a kick into the half-orcs knee, toppling him over. By this time both of them had been held back by the other three.

"Calm down! We have no time for your petty quarrels!" cried Thor. Zanatos eyes widened, his body tensed.

"Fools! You've done it now! You've awakened them!"

"What?" puzzled Val

"Run!" screamed Arturo.

At least a dozen pale, humanoid creatures leapt through the trees, pursuing their first proper meal in weeks. They were humans once, now pale, extremely bony, one could say skeletal figures. Their teeth, razor sharp just like their blackened nails. Gleaming, blood red eyes protruded from grim, hollowed sockets.

"Ghouls…" whispered Arturo as he ran for his life. The ghouls were advancing at an alarmingly fast pace. Their distorted, pale bodies cast wicked black shadows over the even surface of the mud. They screamed and moaned as they bound along the trees in search of food. Psychotic war cries…

"They won't stop until daylight!" cried Zanatos above the screams of the ghouls. His white breath was clearly visible as he breathed, in the midnight frost.

"We're going to have to fight them!" panted Thor.

"Well if that's the only option then so be it!" screamed the inappropriately named dwarf, Julius. He gripped his axe even more tightly. The Black Souls drew their weapons. Arturo drew his finely made, Elven bow, prepared to release death upon the ghouls. Zanatos drew his sword. It was forged of a dark grey metal. It was encrusted with Chaos runes, delicately painted in expensive gold print. The others also drew their respected weapons. The warriors tensed for battle as they had done a thousand times before, their muscles tensed, eyes alert. The ghouls had become silent and the swamp was eerily quite.

"Look out! I think see something left!" panted Arturo.

"I see something ahead!" cried Thor, his eyes darting nervously. As soon as one of the warriors saw a shadow or a flicker it had disappeared. The thick black mud seemed thicker than ever. It was knee deep, waste deep for the dwarves.

"I can't see anything…" moaned Val, beads of perspirations drizzling down his grimy forehead.

"Silence…" whispered Zanatos. The band stood there for quite a short time but it seemed like years. "Lookout!" cried Zanatos and he dived towards Thor. The mud bubbled and a ghoul burst out from under the mud. It lunged at Thor and gripped him about to tear an arm off when all of a sudden it's head completely disappeared. In a lightning quick flash Zanatos had cleaved its head clean off. Black blood spurted out of the neck in a fountain like motion, drenching Thor in the gruesome fluid. Another ghoul flew at Arturo from a nearby tree. Arturo jumped to the side, spitting death from his bow straight into the Ghoul's pale, clammy side. Before it could recover Val hacked the ghoul's head off while the body still flailed harmlessly in the mud. Several more ghouls charged through the trees, eyes glowing blood red. Val and Thor charged at the advancing horde of hell-spawn. The ghouls wailed and screamed as they were torn down by the efficient warriors. Julius joined the fray tearing at the ghouls with his axe. Zanatos fought the ghouls advancing from the trees, his blade delicately weaving in and out of their bodies in lightning flashes while Arturo backed him up with his arrows. A few minutes later, the skirmish had come to an end and the ground was strewn with the battered and severed corpses of ghouls. Zanatos cleaned his sword with a piece of cloth and returned it to it's scabbard.

"Everyone ok?" asked Arturo, while retrieving arrows from the grimy bodies.

"No one's heart too badly lad. A few scratches but no ghoul poison said Val, enjoying yet another victory. Arturo checked the map, the mage had given him. Some blood had seeped through his clothing and the map was terribly stained. However it was still readable.

"We're surprisingly close to this temple according to this," said Arturo.

"Excellent! The sooner we get out of this place, the better!" moaned Thor. "Who knows what other evil lurks in this swamp!" The band set out, trudging silently in singly line through the dark swamps. The dead trees were becoming thicker as they advanced deeper into the swamps heart. They surrounded the men on all sides except forward and back and became so thick that they clawed at the warriors armour. Tripping over on the gnarled roots and splashing into the mud wasn't uncommon. Because of the thick blanket of trees, little moon light seeped through and the surface was bathed in shadows. Eventually however the mud became scarcer and scarcer and soon they mercenaries were walking on a normal ground , only with a thin layer of mud, a few centimetres thick.

"Are you sure we're going to this temple?" questioned Val, doubting Arturo's geographic skills. The young mercenary had only just recently joined the band after being rescued from a band of trolls.

"Well according to this map we should be there," answered Arturo, looking at the man with a sense of uncertainty.

Thor strode angrily to the front of the line and turned to Arturo while still walking backwards.

"Listen boy! I didn't come here for you to get us lost in these swamps! I'd rather have been quickly slaughtered by those ghouls rather than to spend days roaming endlessly!"

"Well we should be there-," Arturo's answer was cut short as all of a sudden the ground beneath Thor disappeared and the dwarf began falling. Arturo instinctively grabbed Thor's hand. Arturo caught a view of what had happened. Arturo hesitantly pulled the dwarf up and they all marvelled at the sight before them. The path and trees had ended in a sheer, straight 16 metres drop. They had entered a clearing it was an extremely large hole, 20 metres in diameter. The edges of the hole were all even and no slope to the bottom was present. The hole was surrounded by a wall of dead trees, the only entrance and exit being the small path in which the Black Souls had taken. The clearing was bathed in rich, golden light coming from the moon.

"Ah yes, that's right, the map says here that it's some sort of canyon or ravine or something," said Val looking over Arturo's shoulder, at the map. At the bottom of this hole lay a small temple (almost a shrine because of it's size). It was shaped as a cube, fashioned, completely out of creamy stone. Large obelisks stood at each corner of the cube each one an equal distance from the temple. The obelisks were coated in bold arcane scriptures that only the gods could hope to understand. A small stone entrance could just be seen at the base of the structure. There was a small grate on the roof of the temple and the golden moonlight spilled through the small opening, into the temples inner chambers.

"Well then gentleman, we're faced with the problem with getting down into that temple," laughed Thor, eagerly.

"Anyone got any rope?" asked Arturo.

"Yeh I've got plenty!" answered Val. "I've always carried some, knowing an occasion like this would arise."

"Well, lets get to work," said Zanatos.


	5. Chapter 5

Val leaped down the side of the rugged cliff, tied safely by the rope he had brought. He was the last of the mercenaries to abseil down. They stood over the large temple. Although it was obviously old and dusty, it still looked magnificent surrounded by the sea of decaying trees.

"Right, so how do we get the plant?" asked Thor, half joking.

"There's this entrance but it sealed completely with this stone tablet," said Arturo running his fingers over the tablet. Delicate carvings bristled over the ancient stones surface. The carvings displayed pictures of intricate vines fighting with a brave armoured knight. They all paused and studied the tablet. 'Hmm, I hope we don't find these vines in their," said Arturo.

"Well there's no door handle and no one to let us in so the way I see it there only one option!" laughed Val and he struck the door with his sword before anyone had time to react. The sword made a large clinking sound on the wall. It hadn't even chipped the stone.

"Think before you act!" cried Zanatos. The large sound created by Val echoed throughout the next few kilometres.

"Everything in these swamps now knows we're here! Who knows what will happen to us!" cried Arturo.

"Hold on, we still have time," replied Zanatos. "Look, the warriors' sword on the carving is pointing downwards. Isn't that strange?"

"DIG!" cried Julius. Val and Thor dropped to their knees and began digging at the dirt beneath them. The ground parted revealing an object wrapped in some sort of ancient skin. The wrapping revealed a thin small key with markings and engraving much similar to the obelisks surrounding them.

"Alright so we've got a key but there's no slot," said Julius in despair.

"No wait! I see it! Look at the knight's helmet! His visor is unusually large and it's hollow!" gasped Arturo. The thin key slotted easily through the small opening. Everyone heard a large click of stone grinding against stone. The ground began to vibrate and the large stone tablet parted into the ground to reveal the inner chambers of the temple...

What lay ahead of the adventuring band was pure darkness but that was soon solved. The band entered the chambered, now equipped with their makeshift torches. The temple was simple yet marvellous. It consisted of a single hallway, around three metres in width and around fifteen metres in length. The walls were covered in delicate tapestries, depicting battles, strangely of great warriors fighting hordes of vines. The hallway opened into a large square room, around twenty by twenty metres was enormous and the celing stretched at least 9 metres. In the center was a large staircase leading to the ceiling in which stood a small plateau. Above this plateu moon light spilled through a grate and was reflected off several, cleverly placed mirrors, making the whole room shine in moonlight. Surrounding the staircase, were six evenly placed coffins made from a fine oak and painted a subtle green. They were plain other than their colour.

"I'm guessing what we need is at the top of those stairs," said Thor, eyeing the coffins suspiciously. Zanatos took charge.

"Listen, one of you will go to that platform there to retrieve the plant. These coffins are very likely to open and whatever is in them we cannot fight, so I'm going to hold them off, I can't explain how right now but I will. Time is running short its going to be morning in a couple of hours." The mercenaries did as they were told. Arturo, the most athletic of the lot clambered up the stone stairs to the platform. The other waited at the mouth of the hall while Zanatos stood calmly at the foot of the stairs. Arturo reached the platform and the sight before him was amazing. Unlike the temples musty air, the air on the platform was clear and cool. Mirrors were placed near the grate and moonlight spilled all over the platform. In the center, with all the light focused in it was a plant. It was small, no larger than a fist. It was simple enough, a thin green stalk protruded from the dirt and ended in a small purple flower. Other thin green branches protruded from the main one. Arturo hastily retrieved the instructions he had received from the mage from his pocket. Then he slowly pulled the plant out of the small inbuilt soil from the platform.

The coffins creaked for a second. Zanatos tensed. They burst open revealing six glowing figures. They were humanoid and quite tall, mostly resembling elves. They all began speaking in some sort of hybrid ancient elvish language that few knew. Arturo tore down the step to find them advancing.

"Give me the plant and run," said Zanatos through bared teeth. Arturo opended his mouth to protest but after he seeing Zanatos' face he handed his the plant, drew his sword and ran after the other three mercenaries.

Zanatos stood in the center of the six arcane figures. He remembered his childhood, how he had developed his magical powers over that one night. He stood there and focused his thoughts, built them up. Then he concentrated them to screaming intensity and released. The hell began…

Zanatos' eyes glowed a blinding blood red. He stared at one of the figures and the figure began to decay as if time had accelerated by millions of years. A swirling black ball of energy formed around Zanatos and then exploded engulfing the beings in a blazing black flame. One still stood and charged at Zanatos. The warrior drew his sword and so did the being. The sword glowed with a black aura and black whisps of energy swirled around the sword as it blocked and parried the blows of the being. The battle raged, and with each clash of swords black magic exploded. Zanatos weaved in and out of the beings range parrying it's blows until eventually the moment came. The being dropped its guard and Zanatos tore his blade through the beings heart. Electric energy surged from the beings wound as it dropped to the ground, lifeless. Zanatos, panting breathlessly and clutching the plant, stumbled out of the temple to the darkness of the swamp to find the others waiting, prepared to fight. As soon as they saw Zanatos stumbling around as if about to die, they rushed over to him. He dropped to the ground lifelessly.

"What happened?"

"Are you ok?"

"Did you get the plant?"

"What was in there?"

Zanatos stared at the swirling masses of faces. All their words were slurred and he could barely talk let alone stand.

"Don…Take… take the plant…" he blurted before the world sank into oblivion…


	6. Chapter 6

Zanatos awoke to the soft glow of candle light and the sound of the storm outside. He recognised his surroundings immediately. Cosmot Inn… He was in a small oak bed, inside a small room. He caught a glance of the several mercenaries, sitting nearby at a table in the corner. He quickly shut his eyes. The mercenaries hadn't noticed him.

"So as soon as he wakes, we give the mage the plant," said the voice of Arturo.

"Hmmm," said Julius.

"Well there's been a change of plan…" said Val.

As soon as Zanatos heard that, in a rapid flash he leapt up, instinct driving him directly towards Arturo. Luckily the mercenaries hadn't removed any items of clothing and Zanatos was still wearing his gauntlets. As he leapt out he drew a small, concealed knife from the gauntlets. He through his free arm around Arturo and put the knife to the young warriors throat.

"Listen! You give me the plant now or the boy dies!"

"I don't think so Zanatos," laughed Val, a malicious smile twisting over his lips. Zanatos' eyes darted about the room, desperately.

Zanatos whispered into Arturo's ear, sizing up his opponents.

"Listen, I'm not going to hurt you," he whispered nervously, "your friends, they aren't what they seam, trust me and do as I say ok?" Arturo silently nodded as Zanatos outlined his plan. The three of the mercenaries has drawn their swords and were slowly drawing nearer when unexpectedly, Arturo leapt away from Zanatos and dove for their weapons which were lying at the opposite side of the room. Val threw his sword at the young mercenary, the razor sharp blade missing his head by centimetres. The sword drove into the wall. Arturo grabbed Zanatos sword and threw it to him. Zanatos caught the sword and kicked the door to the room down while Arturo shot an arrow straight into the nearest mercenary who happened to be Val. The arrow tore straight into the warriors' cheek and instead of a cry of pain and blood, a thick black liquid burst out, Val seemed unfazed.

"Just as I thought," whispered Zanatos to himself. Arturo stared in horror as he leapt for the door. The two, swiftly bolted down the hallway and into the main room, in which they had originally received the notice from the mage. They charged out the door as the bar tender, the only other person in the room stared in shock at the two figures. Once they were outside they quickly searched for cover. The rain was pouring down and lightning raged across the sky which was a sea of darkness. It was night and little could be made out. Oily mud had covered the ground. The two figures silently ran from the inn, into the village. They quickly lost themselves amongst the tight bundle of huts and houses and ducked into an alleyway. They were both soaked to the bone and panting breathlessly.

"I think we lost them…" panted Arturo, "Now explain!"

"They're… They're possessed," panted Zanatos, "when the two of us were in that temple, something happened to the other three who were waiting outside. That plant… it was locked in that temple for a reason. Did you not see those tapestries? I knew about this plant as soon as we entered the temple. It is known as the vines of D'sparil. It grows into a vine with purposes of soul destruction. It grows at alarmingly fast rates but first, it must be planted. You saw Val! And the others to! They are gone! That mage! They were under his control all along. Surely some stored of mind spell! No wonder, none of the villagers would talk to us about him! He discovered how to control this plant. Wielding this plant, he'd turn this whole village into oblivion with it and soon it would spread…"

"Then why weren't we brought under the mages spell," asked Arturo, shocked and interested at the same time.

"It's a common necromantic spell that's effective but has one major weakness. He can only infest the greedy and impure. It could not affect you; you had too much good running through your veins."

"What about you?"

"Well… I'm a different story,"

"Please tell me," said Arturo, the rain drenching him as he stood their talking to the breathless warrior.

"We don't have time for that, the plant must be destroyed. Or else it will be planted and then…well I don't want to the think about that."

"I didn't think you'd care. I mean about this."

"I don't have a choice, if we don't stop this now, then it will eventually get us"

"Then let's do it."

"Val, Thor and Julius are probably delivering the plant to the mage right now," said Zanatos, assessing the situation.

"Well then! We must make haste!"

Dawn had not yet broken. Arturo estimated that maybe it was one o'clock at night. The two solemn warriors trudged through the mud caked road towards the edge of Cosmot where the mage resided. The rain beat down mercilessly and splattered and danced on the soldiers, already saturated armour. Lightning flew and raged at the skies above them, occasionally lighting up the otherwise dark plain. Dark rain clouds covered the moon, blocking out any moon light.. The two of them walked side by side, their hair matted to their foreheads, the rain drizzling down there faces. As they neared the end of Cosmot, the small, tightly bundled houses disappeared and what lay before them a steep road, surrounded by trees. The roads only lead to one place.


	7. Chapter 7

The large stone walls rose above the two soldiers and it wasn't until they were facing danger did they actually notice the details of the keep. The wall was high, built of a thick strong stone, crafted seamlessly. Statues of gargoyles were strung along the top of the wall and there at the gates, lay what was left of Thor, Val and Julius. They had changed over the past few hours, their bodies deformed and mutated into bizarre, horrific creatures. Extra limbs and features had protruded from their bodies but was most frightening was that they still retained some of their old features. They lay lifeless on the ground; the mage had obviously shown no mercy to his slaves. As they neared the walls, the gates slid open on their own revealing what was no longer a small hut but what loomed was a large tower. It was built from black stone, and featureless until the top, where lay a platform, around fifteen metres in diameter. A humanoid figure could just be made out. Dark black energy swirled around the tower.

"I foresaw you arriving at my temple… Zanatos," a voice boomed. It seemed to come from the air itself, "Just as I foresaw you coming to this village."

Zanatos looked up at the top of the tower, rain spilling across his face like an epidemic. "The end of the world is nigh my friend, soon the vines shall be planted and then… well you distinguish…"

Zanatos glanced at the frightened Arturo grimly, a grim frown forming over his ashen face.

"Listen, draw your bow, I will need your assistance, stay down here and wait for my call," shouted Zanatos above the rain. Lightning and explosions sounded on the platform on the platform and the closer they got to the tower, the thicker the air became and the faint smell of death resided in the air. It was time…

Zanatos spread his arms and let the thoughts swirl around in his mind, he let them course through his body and flow through his veins. They focused into shattering intensity and then he let it all go…Arturo stared in horror at Zanatos a thick aura of darkness surrounded him, his eyes glowed a deep blood red and he began to rise, his body rose into the air and flew to the top of the tower…

The air was a thick black and the intense smell of decay flowed through Zanatos' nostrils. Zanatos stood at the top of the platform, across him stood the mage who had discarded his old fatigues. He now stood at the edge of the platform, a maniacal figure, cloaked in a sea of black, his face was deformed and twisted into an insane grin dark black energy swirled and exploded at his finger tips as he cast spells released upon the centre or the platform. In the centre of the platform resided the plant. The small plant seemed unaffected by the dark energy bolts and swirling masses of darkness inflicted upon it.

"Hello Zanatos, are you here to challenge me?" said the necromancer who paused his spell casting ritual.

"I can't let you spread this hell spawn. I can't let you live…Caeon…" said Zanatos, staring grimly into his nemesis' cold, lifeless eyes.

"Ha-ha! So you do remember me old friend. Why if you kill me you're only killing yourself… Look at yourself and tell me who your are… we aren't so altered…Don't you remember me Zanatos? The seventh servant? Caeon? ". The necromancer, smiled slyly.

"I'm not a servant of evil like you Caeon!" he screamed as he charged toward the necromancer. He felt power course through his veins and storm in his mind as he lunged at the necromancer. But the power wasn't the filthy black magic but something different The necromancer chanted some words and swirling black lightning bolt flew out of his pale finger tips striking Zanatos straight in the stomach. Zanatos screamed in pain as he felt abdomen begin to decay. He flew at Caeon and crashed straight into him. The two of them both struggled to get up. Lightning flashed dangerously close to the two figures. The cackling necromancer released yet another spell. A green beam of lightning flew from his hands into Zanatos' shoulder burning straight through. Zanato's grabbed the burn and was glad the necromancer had only grazed him. Zanatos slammed the necromancer with a vicious uppercut, filled by the sacred anger that drove a man's feats beyond possibility. The necromancer cast another spell as he stumbled to his feet, Zanatos could feel his skin bubbling but the pain he could barely feel anymore. He was beyond pain. He swung another punch straight into Caeons face, his face shattering. He then grabbed his arm and twisted, snapping the bone clean. Caeon shrieked in pain and desperately released another spell. Zanatos body began to rot uncontrollably but it held. For the first time in decades he felt the great surging power of Zaen. He felt he could hardly contain the power as he strode over the now scorched and battered platform. He looked at Caeon, once his friend, now a mass of evil, battered and bleeding, pulling himself to his knees. The necromancer lunged to his feet, screaming necromantic words as large ball of flame formed and slammed into Zanatos. Caeon was a man facing death, his face streaming with blood, his teeth gritted. He wasn't going to die now, after so many years. Zanatos couldn't be stopped, inside him boiled a see of flame. It was not the black flame but a white flame. It became too much for Caeon to withstand, his body began to burn, his black robes, began to sink to dust. Zanatos drew his sword, the hell forged artefact which had cursed him for the countless centuries. He didn't need it any more; he didn't need the hell anymore. He picked up the broken Caeon and stared into his old friends eyes. He grabbed his shoulders and held him high above his head. A great white bolt of lightning struck Zanatos. The energy became too much and he clasped down on Caeons shoulders and pulled. The body tore clean into two pieces straight above Zanatos. Black blood raining down upon him as lightning struck the platform. Organs and bones spilled all over the platform. Zanatos dropped the body and ran across the blood stained wreckage and picked up the plant. He lunged it off the edge of the tower and screamed, "ARTURO!"

Arturo glanced straight up and within seconds he had an arrow, sharply loaded. He fired it from his massive longbow in the rain. As the plant flew through the air an arrow tore straight through it, tearing it into several pieces.

Zanatos awoke in a small forest clearing. He felt different and he knew what it was. The villagers probably never knew what happened to the evil mage in the small hut but they had noticed that the winter storms had ceased. He was bandaged up and couldn't move well. His eyes darted around and he noticed Arturo brewing some stew. He was finally cleansed. He whispered a silent prayer to Zaen, for the first time in centuries.


End file.
